North Otago farmer Craig Batchelor was yesterday found guilty on two charges relating to the discharge of dairy herd effluent on his Island Stream property.
Batchelor had denied charges of discharging contaminants (dairy herd effluent) on to production land from a travelling irrigator in a manner which contravened the Otago Regional Council's regional water plan, and discharging effluent to land in circumstances which might result in those contaminants entering water in a farm drain in Island Stream, on or about October 9 last year.
Following a defended hearing in the Oamaru District Court, Judge Jeff Smith found Batchelor guilty on both charges.
He was remanded for sentencing on September 25 in the Dunedin District Court.
In her evidence, Otago Regional Council enforcement officer Eryn Duffy said she went to Batchelor's property, near Maheno, for an annual routine inspection of his effluent system.
He told her a sump pump had broken down and he was waiting to get it fixed.
When she returned on October 9, she saw the pump had been fixed.
However, she noticed ponding on an adjoining paddock, beside a drain.
She walked the length of the drain to Island Stream and was satisfied nothing was flowing in.
She said she returned to the dairy shed and told Batchelor there was effluent ponding from an effluent irrigator.
In his evidence, Batchelor said the ponding in the paddock was not effluent.
It was irrigation water which had ponded from a K-line irrigation system.
Judge Smith accepted the evidence of Mrs Duffy where there was a conflict in evidence between her, and Mr Batchelor and his farm manager Ian Standen.
She was forthright and clear and unmoved on key issues, he said.
He was in no doubt the ponding was effluent and not irrigation water.
The explanation about ponding from the K-line was "not acceptable at all", he said.
The charges did not relate to the breakdown of the sump pump.
It was accepted by the council officer that Batchelor had taken appropriate steps to repair it.
